bryde's whale. 1083 



f;vv to the noi'th, it is not so surprising that B. hrydei mny be alile 

 to live outside the tropical parts of the coast. The conditions of 

 existence, however, for this species cannot be very good there, 

 because the 3 or 4 specimens captured (during nearly three years) 

 outside Pt. Alexandre were all unusually thin and did not yield 

 more than 2-3 barrels of oil, or sometimes even less. All the speci- 

 mens seen at this place were in very bad condition, Avith numerous 

 wounds from parasites over the whole body, and so thin that the 

 whalers did not care to pursue them. They were never seen 

 accompanied by young ones outside Pt. Alexandre, and they were 

 all lying almost motionless and did not make any eflforts to escape 

 from the steamer. Unfortunately not a single specimen has been 

 examined from this part of the African coast, and very few were 

 captui'ed, because the whalers always preferred to take the more 

 valuable "humpback" whales, which were to be found in the same 

 locality. It has therefore not yet been proved whether the 

 " seihval " from the coast of tropical W. Africa really is Balceno- 

 2}tera b?'ydei. 



Capt. Andr. Ingebrigtsen also told me that the " seihval " out- 

 side Pt. Alexandi-e appeared in these waters every year about the 

 middle of June and disappeared again about September or 

 October. 



If this whale follows the same route as the " humpback " 

 generally does — along the coast — we might expect to see migrating 

 specimens pass Saldanha Bay, and to find a greater number of 

 them there in the spring, October-ISIovember, but this is not the 

 case. It is probable therefore that they choose another route, 

 perhaps further out to sea, where the cuirent is stronger and the 

 water cooler. 



It is not impossible that some of the " sei "-whales from 

 Portuguese W. Afiica may have been Rudolphi's whale (B. hore- 

 alis), a typical speciixien of which was captured outside Saldanha 

 Bay in ISTovember 1912. This is the first S. African specimen of 

 B. horealis which has been reported further south than off Cape 

 Blanco (20° 45' N. 1.). It was easily recognized as the proper 

 " seihval " by the Norwegian whalers ; and Capt. P. J. Larsen 

 kindly pi-esented me with a quantity of the baleen, which was 

 quite distinctive of B. horealis (PI. XCII. fig. 9). 



As I have mentioned above, Saldanha Bay is the locality where 

 the greatest number of B. hrydei a,re captured. The whaling- 

 trade was started there in 1910, and only twenty- four specimens 

 of the " seihval '' were captured in the first year, and all of 

 them in the spring. The first three specimens were caught on 

 March 9th and 29th, and on April 1st. Five were captured 

 from the 20th to the 30th of April, four from the 1st to the 

 10th of May, six from the 10th to the 20th of May, and six from 

 the 20th to the 30th of May. After that time the '• humpback " 

 was found at this spot in large numbers. 



The following list shows the number of " seihval " captured at 



